The Jewish prophets—and indeed the whole of the Scriptures—are biased toward the powerless. Such a preferential option for the powerless implies a privileged hearing for those whose voices are excluded, the so-called “epistemological privilege of the oppressed.” If justice is what we are after, then we will interrupt the powerful rhetoric of the smooth-tongued and strain our ear to hear the feeble and crackling voice of “those who cannot speak” (Proverbs 31:8). The stammerings of the needy are an eloquent testimony to their violated rights; the spellbinding oratory of the powerful may well bespeak their bad conscience…. the groans of the powerless should disturb the serenity of {the powerful’s} comforting ideologies.
Miroslav Volf
Exclusion & Embrace
